As a title that’s landed on more than a few ‘best of’ lists for cookbooks of 2012, it should come as no surprise that I found myself channeling Ethan Hunt, stalking from the racks in an oversized hoodie, as a librarian re-shelved a recently acquired copy of Naomi Duguid‘s Burma: Rivers of Flavor last weekend.

It has been said by many people smarter than myself that Burma is a largely unknown world to most of us. But around here, it seems like that exotic land is never far from the tip of my colleagues’ tongues with StarNews reporter Kevin Maurer and photographer Matt Born‘s ongoing and award-winning coverage of a refugee family’s relocation to the Port City.

Culinarily speaking, I didn’t know the first thing about the cuisine other than a vague and likely ill-informed understanding that Burma is “one of those fish sauce places.” After spending some time with Duguid’s book however, I think I have a better grasp on the topic. And I finally have a use for all of those dried shrimp that have been stockpiled in my freezer.

Unlike many contemporary cookbooks, Duguid does not dedicate the first 150 pages of her tome to luscious photographs and socioeconomic/cultural tutorials, although she’s quite an accomplished shooter, and her on-location images play well throughout the book. Instead, by page 24 you’re receiving expert instruction on a double reward recipe, crispy fried shallots and the resultant oil that both show up frequently in the coming pages.

Without any intentional planning, we wound up having a Burmese night last Sunday, when a handful of recipes came together to form a feast. Leading the way, of course, were the afore mentioned shallots (and a few onions in my case, shallots tend to get pickled in this house.)

First up was a salad of green beans, subbed in for the Asian long beans she calls for in the recipe. If you’re feeling particularly inclined to maintain a degree of authenticity, swing by Saigon Market for the real McCoy (not to mention most of the other weird ingredients in the book.) The flavors here are all bright and funky, with lime juice and fish sauce lifting a garnish of those shallots and some chopped toasted peanuts.

If you haven’t played with dried shrimp, these pack a serious punch. Soaked in water and blitzed in the blender, the flavor and aroma defined a curry of butternut squash (her recipe calls for pumpkin) laced with turmeric and ginger. Outstanding the first night, and even better as leftovers in the following days.

Golden Egg Curry

Perhaps most intriguing of the recipes I played with, Duguid’s Golden Egg Curry introduced me to the technique of shallow frying peeled hard-boiled eggs until the surface blisters and crisps. They are then halved and served in a fiery sauce of tomatoes and chilies. All of the above were spooned onto a plate with brown rice, making for one of the more excitingly flavorful meals I can remember in quite some time.

SO if you’ve got a thing for those unforgettable flavors of Southeast Asia, get a request in for the book now, I’ll return it Saturday. It’s not due for another two weeks, but the copy I just forked over cash for should be showing up in the mail any day now.

[…] Burma. Morocco. Jerusalem. In addition to being far-flung and exotic locales, all three have recently starred as the subjects of cookbooks aimed at demystifying the cuisines of those foreign lands. Thumbing Amy Thielen’s new title manages to deliver the same sense of adventure. Her destination: rural Minnesota. […]

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Welcome to the StarNews food blog – where we focus on the fine, not-so-fine and just plain funky eats in the Cape Fear region. We cover all sorts of edible tidbits: restaurant buzz, interesting ingredients (and how to use them), recipes, great deals and more.